The Direct Marketing Association sent direct mail pieces to several thousand DM professionals this month promoting the new Digital Print Pavilion at the association's 85th Annual Conference & Exhibition next month.
The pavilion, hosted by Hewlett-Packard, Nexpress and Xerox, was created in partnership with The Digital Printing Council of Printing Industries of America Inc. It will feature informational and how-to sessions, live demonstrations and case studies from companies that have used digital printing.
“As the quality of digital printing has increased while costs have decreased, direct marketers are the obvious beneficiaries of advancements in this technology,” said David Smith, senior vice president, marketing & business development, at the DMA. “We believe that as we introduce more direct marketers to the new tools that are available, they will experience dramatically increased response rates and improved return on investment.”
The mail pieces were produced using digital printing, which let the DMA personalize them by six segments within the association's database of members and attendees of past conventions.
One group consisted of people who attended the 2000 show in New Orleans but did not attend last year's show in Chicago and have not signed up for this year's Annual Conference. Another group included people that attended last year but have not signed up for the conference this year.
Each mail piece was personalized with the recipient's name, company name, title and address and included a personalized letter with messages based on each segment. The cover featured a movie marquee that read, “Coming Soon… The DMA Annual Conference & Exhibition with [name of recipient].
“Letters were sent to people who attended New Orleans and didn't attend Chicago that say 'we missed you last year,'” Smith said. “For those that came to Chicago but have not yet signed up this year, the letters say that we've made some really exciting changes since Chicago.”
Another mailing went Sept. 16 to a core group in the DMA house file who have not registered for next month's show but who did not fit any of the six categories. It also is personalized with the name of the recipient, his title, company name and address, but the design differs. Each element is printed in a different color on an almost-life-sized DMA badge. It includes, in big yellow print, the words: “Pretty impressive, huh?” and the recipient's first name. The recipient's name is also mentioned in the copy.
These mail pieces noted that: “This announcement is provided for the DMA by DST Output Inc., using digital full-color technology.”
